Propaganda Used during War
Propaganda was used to mobilize the minds of the nations towards war; Propaganda can be explained as telling lies to make people believe a certain thing. But the meaning is much broader then that, it can be a complete lie, but it can be the half-truth, or it could be the truth exaggerated. In basic terms it is making people believe something that they are not entirely told the truth about.
Propaganda was used in 3 main types of ways in the First World War. It was used to keep up morale, this is when the truth maybe tampered with to make it seem Britain are being successful in this war, and to make it seem like they are winning. It was also used to create hatred and suspicion towards the enemy; they would do this by lying or exaggerating the truth to make the enemy seem brutal and vicious.
Propaganda would also be used to help support the war. As well as recruitment for the army, they also needed recruitment for the war industries (factories, mines etc.) Also they need to conserve resources, by this i mean to ration things and conserve resources etc. water, food, coal. Propaganda would be used to make the people who weren't fighting to feel guilty, so they would work in the war industries to try and help out. Propaganda would also be used to stop drug and sex abuse because they were believed to have a negative affect on the war effort. Also the government would make it seem there were German spies, so everyone would tighten national security. Propaganda was tied in with religion, if it seems that the church is backing the war, and then everyone would think

That God backs this war, then a lot of people will join up for the army or in to war industries. Also it would be used to make the people who oppose the war to change their minds. Examples of Propaganda to keep up morale would be, Films these made to show that the British were winning, e.g. 'For the Empire', this showed that they were patriotic. This also supported the war effort because the title emphasizes the patriotic side of the war. Even children's games were being supportive of the war; playing cards were made to show patriotic pictures of British soldiers. Also a lot of children's games were made to show that the Germans were cowards and treacherous, whereas the British Tommy was seen as brave modest and courageous and everything that the German's were not. This was done because if they could 'brainwash' the children then they would have soldiers in the future all of these were selling well so propaganda was working in this department. Short cartoons like’ Bully Boy’ were made, this was a short cartoon to make fun of and ridicule the Kaiser (emperor). This would be making fun of the German's and this would make a lighter side to the war so everyone isn't all serious, this would also create a small amount of hatred towards the Germans.
There was another film called 'The Battle of the Somme', this was a film brought out to take advantage of the 3,000 cinemas across Britain. The film actually showed dead bodies and casualties from the actual battles. This film was very much aimed at creating

hatred towards the enemy because it showed dead bodies and casualties for 13% of the movie. This would have left the audience traumatized and outraged with the Germans. But the producers included fake scenes, but the trick was that they didn't indicate which was which, so some of the most atrocious scenes (which would have filled the audience with anger and hatred) could have been fake.
The Government created a lot of hatred throughout Britain for the enemy. They produced leaflets that showed the Germans as barbaric people. An example would be the leaflet they produced described a 'corpse-conversion factory’; this was made out to be a factory behind the German front lines. The leaflet said that the Germans would use the dead bodies of both sides and butcher them and turn them into fat and oils for the pigs to eat. Everyone would have believed the leaflet because it included a (fake) quote from the German press mentioning the factory. This would make everyone think that the Germans are barbaric people who are sub-human. But this was later to be found out that it was in fact a lie in 1925.
Newspapers also had an important part in propaganda. There was a story that was printed in the Sunday Chronicle (on the 2nd of May 1915) that had news about a 'charitable great lady' that told the press of a young little Belgium refugee girl who was unable to blow her nose, because she had no hands, which were supposedly cut off by Germans. Also Newspapers would have news in them that supported the war. This would be because all

of the owners would be very supportive of the war, they would be supportive because if there was a war then there would be a lot more rumors that they could spread, an example of the rumors would be that there was supposedly a massive sea battle off the coast of Holland, but nothing at all actually happened. This would have made them more money. So most people who read a paper would be influenced by the papers, which would boost the support for war.
Censorship was introduced during the war. The only reason why they could use censorship was because of DORA, this was an act that gave the government complete control over the mass media and what they produce so they don't alter the opinions of there viewers and readers This was when the government could censor anything that decreased morale or support for the war. An example of the censorship was that the news that the HMS Audacious was sunk never actually got in to the papers. As well as censoring the papers the Government started to censor the letters that were coming home from the front lines, so if any of the soldiers were writing home to tell about the horrible conditions and appalling tactics there letters would never reach the recipient. As well as censoring these things, the government wouldn't let reporters go to the battles; if they did it was very rare. No photos could be taken off dead soldiers because that would cause serious depression and people might notice certain faces and go against the war. The only time in which this didn't occur was the film 'Battle of the Somme', but even some of the scenes in this was tampered with. Most of the time even parliament was kept in the dark

about the progress in the war. Also no figures of deaths was ever released by the government because this would have crushed the morale because the citizens didn't no what it was like out there so they would have been astonished by the figures of the dead.
So in Conclusion I think that Propaganda was successful because a lot of people viewed of the films, 9 million viewed 'For the empire' and the readers of the papers increased by almost half. Also, the patriotic weekly journal 'John Bull' was selling 2 million copies during 1918; this must have meant that the citizens were taking down what the government wanted them to swallow. Another reason why it was successful was because the government didn't have to resort to any extreme propaganda, because some people were choosing to support the war at their own accord, and forming patriotic groups to support the war. As well as the Government succeeding in propaganda, the department of Information was also successful because they created a lot of anti-German views and thoughts, and keeping the horrors of the war discreet.